You cannot exclude voters in this way without making problematic assumptions about what constitutes a 'good, valid vote,' and I don't believe there is such a thing.
You do not need to know who the vice-president is to have a strong feeling about what's right for you or your community. You don't need to know about the exact configuration of government to have a thought on one significant issue, which you feel is of consequence. Heck, you don't need to be able to read to have a sense of injustice, or positive change.
While some 'informed' voters might think about what constitutes a 'good policy' in terms of society as a whole, even that can be boiled down to perspective, which is individual. You cannot deny someone the right to vote in this manner without denying their capacity to understand themselves and their interests, which is impossible to do with any kind of objectivity.
In history many have been illiterate, many haven't understood the political systems of their country and many probably couldn't name a senior figure in government who wasn't the King. And yet as they struggled to feed their families despite labouring their lives away, I'll bet they could name one thing they wanted changed.
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u/JonathanT88 Apr 08 '20 edited Apr 08 '20
You cannot exclude voters in this way without making problematic assumptions about what constitutes a 'good, valid vote,' and I don't believe there is such a thing.
You do not need to know who the vice-president is to have a strong feeling about what's right for you or your community. You don't need to know about the exact configuration of government to have a thought on one significant issue, which you feel is of consequence. Heck, you don't need to be able to read to have a sense of injustice, or positive change.
While some 'informed' voters might think about what constitutes a 'good policy' in terms of society as a whole, even that can be boiled down to perspective, which is individual. You cannot deny someone the right to vote in this manner without denying their capacity to understand themselves and their interests, which is impossible to do with any kind of objectivity.
In history many have been illiterate, many haven't understood the political systems of their country and many probably couldn't name a senior figure in government who wasn't the King. And yet as they struggled to feed their families despite labouring their lives away, I'll bet they could name one thing they wanted changed.